Disconnector trigger mechanism



July 27, 1955 t E. w. GALLAGHER ETAL 3,196,747

l DISCONNECTOR TRIGGER MECHANISM y 5 Filed March 20, 1964 INVENTORS ERNEST WGALLAGHER ROBERT A. GLLESP/E United States Patent O M 3,196,747 DISCONNECTOR TRIGGER MECHANISM Ernest W. Gallagher and Robert A. Gillespie, both of Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, assignors to Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation, a corporation of Virginia Filed Mar. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 353,484 2 Claims. (Cl. 89-145) The present invention relates to firearms and in particular to a trigger mechanism.

A particular feature of the invention is the provision of a novel disconnector.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of a novel means for mounting a disconnector.

A still further feature of the invention is the provision of a disconnector in a trigger mechanism operative to sense the opened or closed position of the bolt.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of a disconnector actuated by a trigger finger piece effective to drive or rotate a sear only when the bolt is in the closed position.

A firearm embracing certain principles of the present invention may comprise a receiver having a bolt slide, a bolt within the slide having a sensing surface, said bolt being movable from a first position defining a closed bolt to a second position defining an open bolt, a disconnector carried by the receiver having a sensing lug cooperating with the sensing surface effective to signal the first or second position of the bolt, a spring powered striker in said receiver, a scar carried by the receiver and normally operative to hold the striker in a cocked condition, said disconnector being operative to engage and move the sear to release the striker only when the disconnector signals the first position of the bolt.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from an examination of the succeeding specification when read in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

FIG, 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a firearm, with parts broken away for clarity, illustrating the trigger mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. l and illustrates the trigger mechanism in the inoperative condition.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a receiver 11, a bolt slide 12, `a bolt 13, a firing pin 14, a striker or hammer 16, a striker spring 17 arranged for operation in customary fashion.

Mounted to the underside of the receiver by screws 1S and 19 is a housing or bracket 21 pivotally supporta trigger finger piece 22 pivoted to the bracket by pin A scar 24 having a tooth 26 is pivotally mounted to the bracket by the pin 27.

The scar 24 is normally biased in a clockwise direction by a spring 28 and rotation of the sear in the clockwise direction is limited by the engagement of a tail 29 with the underside of bracket shoulder 31.

The sear has a rearwardly facing shoulder 32 operative to engage a mating forwardly facing shoulder 33 of striker 16 effective to scar up the striker and hold it cocked in well-known fashion.

A disconnector indicated generally by the reference numeral 34 is also carried by the bracket 21 in that an elongated link 36 of the disconnector is pivotally mounted at one end to the upper end of the trigger finger piece 22 by means of pin 37 while the opposite end of the link 36 is movably supported by spring means 38. One end of the spring means engages the bracket 21 as at 39 while the opposite end of the spring means engages a lug on the link 36 as at 41.

Note that by virtue of the mounting just described 3,196,747 Patented July 27, 1965 the link is movable to and fro from right to left (and from left to right) as the trigger finger piece 22 is moved from its normal position, shown in solid lines, to its operated position, shown in dotted lines. The spring means 38 is operative to retain the trigger piece in its normal posi-tion.

Note further that the disconnector is movable up and down between limits defined by bracket clip 42 at the bottom and scar tooth 26 at the top.

The disconnector 34 is also formed with an upwardly projecting sensing lug Ior sensing element 43 operative to engage and seat upon a mating sensing surface 44 formed on the underside of the bolt 13.

A sensing surface 44 including the incline 46 is so constructed and arranged that when the bolt is in a first position defining ya closed bolt the disconnector 34 including the lug 43 assumes the position shown in FIG. 1 wherein there is a driving connection between a step 47 of the Sear link and the mating tooth 26 of the sear.

Obviously, when the trigger elements are in the position shown in FIG. 1 (the bolt closed) movement of the trigger finger piece 22 from its normal position to its actuated or dotted line position will be operative to drive link 36 against spring means 38 with the result that the driving connection between the link and the sear will ro-tate the sear in a counterclockwise direction to release the striker 16 permitting it to move to the right powered by spring 17 operative to actuate the firing pin in well-known fashion.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it is equally apparent that when the bolt 13 is in a second position defining an opened bolt, the sensing surface 44 including incline 46 is effective to interfere with sensing lug 43 operative to cast disconnector 34 downwardly about pin 37 and against the force of spring 38 with the result that the driving connection between link 36 and sear 24 is broken.

Thus, with the trigger elements in the condition shown in FIG. 2, motion of the trigger finger piece from the solid line position to the dotted line position will be ineffective to release the striker.

Under these conditions, that is, with the bolt open, a firearm embracing the principles of the present trigger mechanism will not operate.

The present invention affords a simple yet reliable trigger mechanism especially for semiautomatic 22 caliber rifles.

The trigger mechanism piece parts are especially suitable to modern mass production methods.

it is anticipated that a wide variety of modifications and design changes may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A firearm comprising a receiver having a bolt slide, a bolt within the slide having a sensing surface, said bolt being movable from a rst position defining a closed bolt to a second position defining an open bolt, a bracket carried by the receiver, a finger piece pivotally mounted upon said bracket, a disconnector carried by the bracket having a sensing lug at one end thereof cooperating with the sensing surface effective to signal the first or second position of the bolt, said one end of said disconnector being resiliently supported in the bracket by a single spring means, the opposite end of said disconnector being hinged to the finger piece, a spring powered striker in said receiver, a sear carried by the receiver and normally operative to hold the striker in a cocked condition, said disconnector having a step located between the lug and the opposite end operative to engage and move the sear to release the striker only when the disconnector signals the first position of the bolt.

2. A trigger assembly for a firearm comprising a housing, a sear pivotally mounted in the housing and normal- 1y biased to rotate in a clockwise direction, a trigger having a trigger nger piece pivotally mounted in the housing, a disconnector movably mounted in the housing and having an elongated link operative in a rst position to make a driving connection with the sear and movable to a second position in which said driving connection is broken, said disconnector being pivotally mounted at one end to the trigger and being resiliently supported at the opposite end by a single spring means, said single spring means being operative through said disconnector to retain the trigger in its normal position, said trigger being operative to drive said disconnector against said single spring UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,422,854 6/47 Reising 89-145 2,659,994 11/53 Yale 89-145 X 2,900,877 8/ 59 McClenahan 42-69 X BENIAMTN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FIREARM COMPRISING A RECEIVER HAVING A BOLT SLIDE, A BOLT WITHIN THE SLIDE HAVING A SENSING SURFACE, SAID BOLT BEING MOVABLE FROM A FIRST POSITION DEFINING A CLOSED BOLT TO A SECOND POSITION DEFINING AN OPEN BOLT, A BRACKET CARRIED BY THE RECEIVER, A FINGER PIECE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED UPON SAID BRACKET, A DISCONNECTOR CARRIED BY THE BRACKET HAVING A SENSING LUG AT ONE END THEREOF COOPERATING WITH THE SENSING SURFACE EFFECTIVE TO SIGNAL THE FIRST OR SECOND POSITION OF THE BOLT, SAID ONE END OF SAID DISCONNECTOR BEING RESILIENTLY SUPPORTED IN THE BRACKET BY A SINGLE SPRING MEANS, THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID DISCONNECTOR BEING HINGED TO THE FINGER PIECE, A SPRING POWERED STRIKER IN SAID RECEIVER, A SEAR CARRIED BY THE RECEIVER AND NORMALLY OPERATIVE TO HOLD THE STRIKER IN A COCKED CONDITION, SAID DISCONNECTOR HAVING A STEP LOCATED BETWEEN THE LUG AND THE OPPOSITE END OPERATIVE TO ENGAGE AND MOVE THE SEAR TO RELEASE THE STRIKER ONLY WHEN THE DISCONNECTOR SIGNALS THE FIRST POSITION OF THE BOLT. 